My Credit Card Application Got Rejected for the First Time Ever!
Three countries. Over twenty five credit cards. Not a single rejection. Until today.
I know that credit cards do not get rejected easily. Especially, if you credit scores are good and you are in a well-paying job. But I got my first ever rejection today. Read below to find out what happened.
I Applied for a CashBack Credit Card
Recently, I had discontinued the American Express Platinum Credit Card. Also, I had successfully achieved the spending required to get the sign-up bonus on Citi Prestige and also won an iPhone XR with my Standard Chartered credit card.
With no more credit card spending goals to target, I was looking for a new plastic. Then I came across the Dubai Islamic Bank Consumer Platinum Credit Card.
The premise of this card was simple. You get 4% cashback on spends in the following categories
- Supermarket & Hypermarket
- Telecom payments
- Fuel
- Utility bill payments
- Auto servicing
- School fees
- Other government charges (Salik, nol)
Each category had a maximum cap on cashback which was big enough for an individual user. That is it. No minimum spends and no other onerous terms and conditions. To make this card more attractive, it offered 50% cashback on all movie ticket spends (maximum of AED 250). This cashback was available across all cinema brands.
This card had no annual fee and no renewal fee.
While my Citi Prestige credit card offers 2 ThankYou points per US$ in these categories, this offer was even better. So, I expressed my interest on the website and soon enough, a sales agent called me. The agent asked me to send all documents over email and he confirmed that no meeting is required. I was impressed by the efficiency. In a couple of days, I received a confirmation over SMS that my application was under process.
However, the agent called me next day and said my application has been rejected. Why you ask? Because the bank has reached the maximum cap in lending for the sector I work in.
To be honest, I am a little confused. I work closely with banks and I am aware of the need to diversify their books. However, it seems a bit of a stretch to club together corporate loans and retail credit.
How do I Feel?
Am I disappointed? Sure. I get disappointed when I see an opportunity and fail to make use of it.
I do feel Dubai Islamic Bank Consumer Platinum Credit Card is one of the better cashback credit cards in the market today. They may have refused me, but you can make use of its benefits.
